poor molly? the lack of information

[sienna291973]

No: HPFGUIDX 95911

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "delwynmarch" 
<delwynmarch at y...> wrote:

Del:
> So what ? Elite fighting units don't get told everything that's 
> going on, from international diplomacy to internal state of 
affairs. They are just told what they need to know.

I think it's safe to say that enough evidence was presented to us at 
the end of OotP to prove that Dumbledore cares about Harry in more 
ways than as just a soldier. This is a very cold view to take by the 
way... Harry is not part of an elite fighting unit and while the war 
might involve many people, the ultimate confrontation will involve 
only Harry and Voldemort. Harry will ultimately have to be in charge 
of his own destiny. Molly won't be able to protect him and I think 
we've seen enough to say that nobody has ever really been able to 
protect Harry from Voldemort when it counted.

Del:
>If DD hadn't been there to save the day in OoP, Harry 
> would be dead or worse. 

If DD had told Harry about the prophecy, told Harry that Voldemort 
wanted to know about this prophecy, told Harry that only he or 
Voldemort could take the prophecy from the DoM, then Harry might not 
have gone to the DoM at all.

Del:
> Harry is the most valuable weapon in the 
> weaponry, but he's most definitely not the only one. 

Ultimately, he is the only one who counts. Like I said, the ultimate 
confrontation will involve only two people - Harry Potter and Tom 
Riddle.

Del:
> The Good Side 
> has got many other weapons, and Harry doesn't need to know about 
> those. This is a *team* effort, and Harry has to learn to act like 
a 
> good soldier, not like a general.

Dumbledore is the general but even Dumbledore admitted that 
ultimately it'll be all up to Harry.  Don't you find that at all 
telling?

Del:
> There's no need to know why you are being trained in order to be 
> trained well. Army recruits don't ask why they are told to learn 
> this or that, they just assume their instructors know better. I 
> don't ask my car mechanic why he does this or that, I just assume 
he 
> knows better. 

Harry is not an army recruit... he is a 15 year old boy. Teenagers 
don't react well to being kept in the dark and ordered around like 
mindless mushrooms. It's no wonder he lost the plot in OotP.

Del:
> And when I happen to be the expert, I get annoyed if 
> whomever I am instructing doubts every single one of my teachings. 
> Harry was told again and again how important it was for him to 
learn 
> some skills, and yet he didn't apply himself because he didn't 
know 
> why he had to do it, so he felt it wasn't important. 

A typical teenage response and one that could have been avoided by 
Dumbledore telling him about the prophecy.

>Del:
> Said who ?

It's just my opinion, but I think most in the wizarding world would 
agree.

> > Del :
> But nobody knows what would have happened if he had been more 
open. 
> Maybe things would have been even worse, we just can't know.

The key to this is looking at why Dumbledore didn't tell Harry.  He 
didn't NOT tell him for some larger strategic reason, he openly 
admitted that he cared about him too much to place the burden on 
him... that he cared more about what was good for Harry than about 
all the people that he might be condeming to death in the future. I 
trust Dumbledore's judgement... I think Harry should have been told.

> Del :
> Harry *could* have known if he had really thought about it. 
Hermione 
> did guess it, she even tried to tell Harry, but he *refused* to 
> listen. Harry acted then as any kid would have : he let his 
emotions 
> control him. He's just a *kid* ! Not a 10-year-old one, granted, 
but 
> still a 15-year-old one, and not exceptionally mature or anything.

Harry responded to his experience and experience told him that any 
time in the past when he had 'seen' things in visions or dreams, 
they were true.  Why would he suddenly think otherwise?

> Del :
>  What more could DD or 
> anyone else have done ? They *did* tell him to learn Occlumency, 
> didn't they ?

He could have (and should have) told him about the prophecy, as he 
himself admitted.

Sienna